A discussion is provided of the contributions of the study of the humanities towards the improvement of community college occupational education. After section I provides background information on the creation of a Shared Vision Task Force by the National Council for Occupational Education (NCOE) and the Community College Humanities Association (CCHA), section II describes the Task Force's activities and accomplishments and presents a glossary of terms. Section III identifies ten contributions which the humanities make to student learning outcomes in associate degree occupational programs: (1) an appreciation for what is significant about human life; (2) an understanding of human needs and problems; (3) an understanding of the unavoidable ambiguities, vagaries, and value-laden nature of human language; (4) an ability to apply analytical skills to problems and dilemmas; (5) an appreciation of the variety of human purposes and values to be realized in solving problems; (6) the ability to approach problems that lack a singular resolution; (7) an appreciation of the importance of responding to change appropriately; (8) the ability to make judgments reflective of human values; (9) a sense of civic purpose and responsible citizenship; and (10) an appreciation of the values of diverse cultures. Section IV presents the responses of 70 business representatives, and faculty and administrators in 191 community and junior colleges concerning the validity of these contributions and their importance to employment. Next, section V sets forth basic assertions and assumptions used by the Task Force in the development of the 18 curricular recommendations presented in section VI. Finally, section VII discusses the significance of the recommendations. Appendixes contain the Humanities Policy Statement of the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, the NCOE Criteria for Excellence, the CCHA Humanities Statement, survey instruments, and a 77-item bibliography. (AAC)